


Strange and Familiar

by kitlaurie



Category: Cookie Run (Video Game)
Genre: Cute Kids, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Grumpy Old Men, M/M, Old Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26180203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlaurie/pseuds/kitlaurie
Summary: On an otherwise quiet night Salt Cookie discovers that the so called "Monster of the Seas" isn't quite what he'd been expecting, and after coming into port he runs into an old friend who's also recently acquired his own odd child.
Relationships: Pirate Cookie/Salt Cookie (Cookie Run)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	Strange and Familiar

**Author's Note:**

> I may have been a little salty (lol) about Salt Cookie and Squid Ink not actually getting to be a part of the recent story line, even if they did finally get some cool costumes.
> 
> So I wrote some emotionally constipated old men talking to each other about the weird kids they found. Enjoy.

Salt Cookie had spent much of his life out on the seas. He wouldn’t call these waters his friend exactly, he knew them to well for that.

The sea was a beautiful and treacherous place, teeming with an unfathomable amount of life and more than capable of taking it without an ounce of concern.

But on this particular night his poor old fishing boat was putting up with more than just the unruly temperament of the sea.

It had been a calm night. The surface of the sea almost as flat as glass as his boat was rocked by the tiniest, almost imperceptible movement of the tides.

He’d called it a night and was simply enjoying the sight of the calm sea and the clear night sky, the bright full moon reflected perfectly on the ocean’s surface, when his boat suddenly jolted beneath him. The ocean churned, sending wave after wave splashing onto the deck as he struggled to keep his vessel upright.

That’s when he saw it. A massive black tentacle breaking through the ocean’s surface, wrapping itself around his little fishing boat like it was no more than a toy.

Without a moment’s hesitation he reached for his harpoon and threw it, hitting the creature square in it’s great inky arm.

There was a terrible noise from beneath the waves and a sudden mist that seemed to evaporate just as quickly as it appeared.

As the mist cleared and the bobbing of his boat slowed, Salt looked to where the creature had a hold of it.

Sitting there on the deck was something small, something the same inky color as the tentacle that had emerged from the sea. It was holding two of it’s many arms over it’s head and he could hear a soft whimpering sound as the waters around them calmed.

There was no doubt in his mind, this weepy little thing was in fact the great and terrible beast that had only moments ago tried to drag him down to the dark depths of the ocean.

But, tentacles or no tentacles, it was also quite clearly a child.

A sad, frightened child with a harpoon stabbed through one of their numerous little arms.

-

Salt Cookie had somehow managed to get close enough to the poor quaking child to bandage up their wound but no matter how carefully he tread he couldn’t get any real answers from them. Barely got more than two or three words at a time.

All he’d gotten were simple phrases expressing hurt and fear and, thrown in almost at random, the words “Squid Ink”. Which seemed as passable a name as any other he’d ever heard, so that’s what he took it to be.

He decided that maybe after a shake up like that the sight of land might do his nerves some good.

And after all that, he needed a drink.

By the time the shore of the little port town was visible Squid Ink seemed to have become fairly attached to him. Sticking close to him as he sat on the deck and becoming distressed whenever he tried to leave the boat.

Of course, an unexpected night in port also meant a risk of seeing some familiar faces.

He heard him before he saw him, Pirate Cookie, walking a direct line from the inn door to where Salt had tied his boat up for the night.

“There ye are! Overheard some talk of a grumpy ol’ sea dog sittin’ out here with nothin’ but his own company!” Pirate yelled to him, still a good distance away. “Are ye comin’ inside? Or do ye still think yer to good fer- _What is that!?”_

Pirate Cookie stopped dead in his tracks, pointing at where Squid Ink sat on the deck.

“The monster of the seas, I reckon. Or somethin’ close to it.” Salt told him.

“What’d ye bring it up here for!?” Pirate demanded, taking a step back.

“Loud... Scary...” Squid Ink mumbled, quivering on the deck and covering their eyes.

“Me? Scary? Aye, that’s rich comin’ from the likes of you!”

“Didn’t know you were scared of kids.” Salt said as he tried to offer the frightened child a bit of bread. “Must be why Captain Ice always keeps a few close at hand.”

“Don’t ye be trying to tell me that thing’s not something worth being wary of!” Pirate said, shaking his hook at nothing in particular. “And don’t ye be bringing _her_ up either! I’ve had enough of that meddlin’ stick in the mud to last me a good few lifetimes.”

While he was grousing and grumbling to himself, a small figure came up behind him and pulled at his coat.

“Oo0oo?” They asked.

“Huh?” Pirate startled, looking down. “What? No I don’t plan on goin’ back inside yet. Can’t ye see I’m busy?”

“Who’s this?” Salt asked as Squid Ink peered nervously over his leg at the odd noise.

“This be Sorbet Shark, the newest and smallest member of me crew.” Pirate told him, before giving a thoughtful pause. “Well, maybe second smallest.”

Sorbet Shark waved to Salt Cookie enthusiastically.

“Picked the little scalawag up not too long ago.” Pirate continued. “Not sure where they came from. Almost like they appeared outta thin air.”

Pirate laughed at his own, well, not joke exactly, while Salt contemplated the cheerful child with a wary eye.

“Do me a favor and go get us enough food and drink fer two.” Pirate said, turning to Sorbet Shark.

“OOo0o oOo?” The child inquired.

“Aye, fine fine.” Pirate told them. “Get somethin’ for yerself as well. But it be comin’ outta yer share next time we find some real loot!”

“Ooo o0oOoo!” They chirped happily before running off.

“And ye be sayin’ I’ve got a problem with kids.” Pirate said with a smug smile, taking a seat next to Salt without invitation.

“That’s not a normal cookie.” Salt said, watching the newest member of Pirate’s crew head towards the inn.

“Ye bring _that_ thing up here,” Pirate said to him, gesturing at the tiny monster of the deep who was currently nibbling at a piece of bread with the utmost caution. “And yer thinkin’ ye’ve got any right to say who is and isn’t a normal cookie? Why don’t ye take a minute and explain to me what a _normal cookie_ looks like, since yer so perceptive.”

Salt followed the arc of Pirate’s hook as the captain gestured broadly to the rest of the dock.

Just a few piers down Pilot Cookie was sitting by his seaplane, talking animatedly with Adventurer Cookie about where he was headed next while Blackberry Cookie had somehow managed to set a rather impressive tea service on the top of a barrel. Though, she seemed to be the only one enjoying it.

Just a few feet from them Avocado Cookie was standing outside the inn, offering up her best puns for a bewildered looking Jujube.

On the other side of the dock Pink Choco and Cotton Candy were huddled close together over a map, both their brows creased in confusion as they took turns reassuring each other that everything would work out fine.

And over all of them Vampire Cookie and Alchemist Cookie could be heard arguing about both where they were headed and why they were going there at all.

“ _Normal cookie_.” Pirate scoffed as Salt silently watched the tiny little dramas around them. “I don’t think any such thing exists.”

Salt gave the smallest of nods. He really couldn’t argue with that.

“Still,” He said, watching as Sorbet Shark came running back to them, food and drink precariously balanced in their arms. “I think what you’ve got there might have more in common with this little one than you might like to think.”

“It’s cute havin’ ye worryin’ over me like this.” Pirate told him with a smirk. “But have ye stopped to think that maybe I’ve already got a pretty good idea of what I’m dealin’ with here?”

Salt Cookie watched as Sorbet Shark plunked down on the ground next to Squid Ink, talking excitedly in their own way as Squid Ink responded with nervous noises and mumbled words.

What exactly _was_ he so worried about? If he’d so quickly looked past Squid Ink attacking his boat for no better reason than it being there, then what did he think this kid was capable of that was so much worse? No matter what else they were, these were children. And as he watched them sitting there together, eating and stumbling through their own odd conversation, that’s all he really saw. Two kids.

As usual, Pirate Cookie took his pensive silence to mean he’d come around to seeing things his way.

“Well then,” He laughed. “Let’s not spend the rest of the night lettin’ good drink and passable food go to waste!”

Pirate Cookie spent the rest of the night out on the dock, drinking and having a mostly one sided conversation with Salt Cookie long after the two children had fallen asleep under the clear starry sky.

But eventually Salt Cookie was the only one left still awake in the last few hours before dawn.

He’d long ago made a habit of keeping a slow pace when drinking with Pirate Cookie, always making sure the captain was well ahead of him before getting too deep into his own cups.

When he’d mention this to other cookies they would usually nod knowingly, sometimes telling him their own tales of dealing with the treacherous pirate captain.

But as he sat there, content to watch the calm sea while Pirate Cookie snored on his shoulder, the old fisherman was glad he kept his own real reason to himself.


End file.
